Xiao Fei sank into the lake and immediately felt an icy chill penetrate his body. Even with his zombie physique, he shivered uncontrollably.
A plume of ink-black corpse qi erupted from within him, forming a protective layer around his body.
With the corpse qi blocking the chill, the sensation became slightly more bearable.
Xiao Fei opened his eyes underwater and simultaneously spread his divine sense outwards.
He discovered five-inch long, silver fish swimming with extreme speed in the lake. Each time Xiao Fei approached, the fish would dart away and disappear.
He tried several times but couldn't catch a single one.
Furthermore, his body continued to sink. No matter what method he employed, he couldn't swim upwards even an inch.
As he descended, the Yin and coldness in the lake intensified. His corpse qi could no longer block it, and it was estimated that in a short while, he would be completely frozen.
His divine sense looked upwards, but the shore above the water was long gone.
Immediately, another stream of spiritual power, hidden deep within him, surged forth. As the five-colored spiritual power circulated, the fierce aura of his zombie form vanished, replaced by a balanced and serene presence.
After ten years, Xiao Fei's Hunyuan spiritual power had long since recovered. Moreover, he had successfully refined the corpse qi of his zombie form and integrated it into his Hunyuan spiritual power.
This enhanced his Hunyuan spiritual power, which was previously a mixture of the five elements, to now include corpse qi, significantly improving its quality.
The corpse qi he used externally was merely a facade, capable of unleashing only one-sixth of his Hunyuan spiritual power's true strength.
The Hunyuan spiritual power hidden within him was also one of his concealed trump cards.
Currently, the demonic cultivator world widely believed him to be skilled in refining corpses, relying on large numbers of zombies to overwhelm opponents in battle.
However, no one knew that Xiao Fei's own hidden strength was equally formidable.
At this moment, his Hunyuan spiritual power circulated within his body, and the Yin and cold aura from the lake seeped in.
Xiao Fei did not resist the spiritual power head-on. Instead, he chose to fuse it with the Water element of his Hunyuan five elements. Both were of the Water attribute, making fusion effortless.
The influx of external Water attribute energy caused the Water element in his five elements to become exceptionally powerful, disrupting the balance within his body.
Water conquers Fire, weakening Fire. Fire conquers Metal, rendering Metal powerless. Metal conquers Wood, weakening Wood. Wood conquers Earth, rendering Earth powerless. Earth strengthens, and Earth conquers Water.
The five elements, through their cycles of conquest, formed a loop. Ultimately, the overly powerful "Water," by suppressing "Fire" too much, was in turn suppressed by "Earth," the son of "Fire," restoring the balance of the five elements.
The Yin and cold energy that invaded Xiao Fei's body vanished into nothingness after a few cycles of the Hunyuan spiritual power's five-element circulation.
This was the true advantage of cultivating the Hunyuan spiritual power with the five elements, something no single-attribute cultivation method could match.
With the invasion of Yin and cold energy eliminated, Xiao Fei's life was temporarily secured.
At this point, he could already see the lakebed. Numerous faintly glowing green stones were scattered across the bottom, emitting a weak green light.
"Myriad Year Cold Iron! There's so much of it!"
Xiao Fei recognized these green stones as Myriad Year Cold Iron.
Myriad Year Cold Iron was a spiritual material that only formed in extremely frigid environments after prolonged nurturing.
"Myriad Year" was merely a general term; any material reaching a certain quality standard could be called Myriad Year Cold Iron.
The Myriad Year Cold Iron at the bottom of the lake was of very high quality, far exceeding ordinary Myriad Year Cold Iron.
Just then, Xiao Fei noticed that the rope tied to his waist had reached its end.
He could see large quantities of Myriad Year Cold Iron but could not reach them.
In the end, Xiao Fei had no choice but to reluctantly abandon the idea.
He could cut the rope at his waist, but he would still need someone above to pull him up.
Xiao Fei hung on the rope, looking around idly, waiting for someone to pull him up.
At that moment, Xiao Fei spotted a cave in the distance at the bottom of the lake.
Most importantly, he sensed a strong surge of Wood attribute vitality emanating from this cave.
He even suspected that the Wood attribute vitality emanating from the entire canyon originated from this place.
This was because, during this period, everyone had thoroughly searched the canyon floor, even digging up and eating grass roots, yet they had found nothing.
Perhaps the Golden Core demonic cultivator had suddenly gathered everyone to explore the lake because he had made a discovery.
If that were the case, Xiao Fei could not simply go up now.
Firstly, he was the only one who had returned alive, and the Golden Core demonic cultivator might attempt soul-searching on him.
Secondly, his primary reason for coming to this secret realm was for this spiritual item, and there was no reason to miss it.
With this thought, Xiao Fei unhesitatingly took out a short knife from his spatial storage and cut the rope tied to his waist.
Then, his body slowly sank, and after a moment, he finally landed on the lakebed.
Xiao Fei casually picked up a few pieces of Myriad Year Cold Iron from the ground and headed towards the cave.
The entrance to the cave was about six to seven feet wide, easily passable.
Xiao Fei fully activated his divine sense and cautiously entered the cave.
The cave sloped downwards diagonally. Xiao Fei carefully observed his surroundings with his divine sense to guard against any sudden dangers.
Perhaps it was because the creatures in this canyon could not absorb spiritual energy, but he encountered no powerful creatures blocking his path along the way.
After descending for a while, the underground passage then sloped upwards diagonally. After an unknown period, his head suddenly broke the surface of the water.
The passage ahead was already dry, with no water.
Continuing along the passage, when he emerged from it, his eyes lit up.
Before him lay a small space filled with abundant vitality, about ten to fifteen mu in size. The ground was covered in green grass, and in the center of the grassland stood a small tree.
This tree was only as tall as a person, yet it exuded a potent Wood attribute vital energy.
Xiao Fei cautiously approached the small tree. The tree bore only one green fruit, which appeared to be not yet ripe.
"Could this be the legendary Wood Spirit Fruit?"
The Wood Spirit Fruit was an ultimate spiritual item of the Wood attribute, impossible to categorize with ordinary ranks.
From what Xiao Fei knew, the Wood Spirit Fruit could be used to refine a miraculous healing medicine capable of reviving the dead.
It could also be used to refine a Wood-attribute Marrow Cleansing Pill, which could improve cultivation aptitude.
It was a treasure truly rare and sought after in the cultivation world.
Xiao Fei directly dug up the entire Wood Spirit Fruit tree and transplanted it into his own spatial realm.
Next, he further investigated the grassland, finding no immediate dangers.
The environment here was serene and secluded, perfect for reclusion.
For now, he had no desire to return to the canyon floor to endure the Golden Core demonic cultivator's arrogance and the threat to his life.
He decided to reside here for a while first.